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Hunter Biden’s defense attorney is blaming federal prosecutors for a plea deal imploding in court last month.
Abbe Lowell, who is representing the younger Biden along with attorney Chris Clark, contended prosecutors did not make it clear to the defense team that additional charges could be forthcoming.
“What group of experienced defense lawyers would allow their client to plead guilty to a misdemeanor on a Monday keeping in mind that they knew that there could be a felony charge on a Wednesday?” Lowell told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Lowell also appeared to have confidence that if the prosecutors stick to “the facts, the evidence, and the law,” there won’t be new charges against the first son.
“There’s no new evidence to be found,” he said.
On Friday, US Attorney General Merrick Garland granted Delaware US Attorney David — the point-person in the Hunter Biden case — special counsel authority.
During a July 26 hearing, a federal judge ripped apart the probation-only plea deal to which both sides agreed, and found daylight with the defense over whether future charges were possible.
Shortly before the hearing, congressional Republicans amplified IRS whistleblower testimony alleging the federal probe into Hunter Biden was rife with favoritism.
Lowell stressed that the prosecutors approached the defense team to see if a resolution was possible and was tasked with figuring out the language. He also contended there were three possible reasons why the plea deal went awry — all of them pointing a finger at the prosecution.
“One, they wrote something and weren’t clear what they meant… Two, they knew what they meant and misstated it to counsel. Or third, they changed their view as they were standing in court in Delaware,” he charged.
Hunter Biden is facing two misdemeanor charges for willful failure to pay his federal income taxes, and a felony charge for illegal possession of a firearm while addicted to illicit drugs.
During the contentious July hearing, prosecutors appeared to allude to the possibility more charges could come from the ongoing federal investigation of the first son’s business activities.
Once it became clear prosecutors where keeping additional charges on the table, Hunter’s defense team balked.
An additional nail in the coffin was constitutional questions US District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a former President Donald Trump appointee, raised about the deal.
Hunter Biden ultimately entered a not guilty plea to the three charges levied against him.
When asked if there was any chance that first son’s financial transactions out of China, Ukraine, and Romania “crossed the line,” Lowell pointed to the federal probe.
“If you say ‘crossed the line,’ here’s what we know: [over] five years [they did a] thorough investigation looking at the Chinese, the energy company, the other foreign businesses he did,” Lowell said.
“Think of it this way. What did this group of prosecutors who were Republicans appointed by Trump — what did they have as a motive to turn the other way to anything that would’ve indicated wrongdoing against Hunter Biden,” he said. “There was none.”
As the federal case against Hunter Biden continues to play out, congressional Republicans have been barreling ahead with their own probes.
On Wednesday, the Oversight Committee highlighted financial records and revealed the Biden family and its allies raked in at least $20 million from foreign sources — including in Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
President Biden has maintained he “never talked business” with his son’s associates.
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